Whitefish River I see you
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@Sunny

While following an old trail left by a pheasant, Wraen moved along the Whitefish River north and soon found herself in a rather familiar area. Not far from here she had met Raid with whom she had hunted together, further along she had sparred with Dauntless and there she had met the gray wolf, who had caught the very same bird species she was tracking now right before her eyes. 

She walked until she was standing in front of the Blacktail deer plateau, only the ice-covered river between her and the claimed lands. Footprints here and there told that wolves had crossed the borders frequently, but now no one was around. The girl stood there for a while thinking and then, in order to find out more of who else was inhabiting the place, began to examine the scent trails left by others.
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#2
Unsure of whether they left or not yet. Can we say this was before leaving?

Dawn and Aditya had returned recently and so had Pema and Dauntless. He was aware that they would be leaving soon and so he was revisiting all the places that held memories for him here. 

He had gone to the stream where a crawfish had attacked him, to the fields populated by sheep that him and dad had hunted, and now he was heading to the frozen river where he had met the interesting girl he played with.

As he approached the river he wasnt expecting her to actually be there, but sure enough there she was.His tail began to wag slowly and he let out a friendly bark in greeting, ears perked as he watched her.
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Speak of the devil! Wraen looked up to see, who had called out to her, and she smiled, when she recognized the young guardian from the Morningside. She might be mistaken, but he seemed to have changed a bit since their last encounter. Grown-up... matured a little?

"Hey!" she called out to him, closing the distance between them in few strides. "How have you been... your name was?"
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She heard him and smiled and he gave another wag, smiling in return. Then she spoke while closing the distance and he fought back a look of surprise, failing miserably. "You talk!" he responded dumbly and then floundered silently, ears flicking in an embarrassed fashion. "I mean...last time you didn't so I kinda figured you couldn't" he tried to explain. He had figured she was someone like Seelie, who really was unable to vocalize words.

Figuring it was best to try to clear up the awkwardness he had made he gave a lopsided smile "I don't believe I gave my name last time. I'm Sunny, what's your name?" he asked politely.
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"In that case I am a walking miracle - a mute that regained the voice," as Wraen said this, she had a feeling that this story had already been told before. It had involved a merwolf and a prince, if she was correct and depending on the origins it either had a sad ending or happily-ever-after. 

"Sunny - that is a lovely name," she said, wondering, what had inspired his parents. "I am Wraen with a long and complicated family name. Not gonna boast with it. What are you up to?" she asked, ready to join and help, if that was anything, where a second person would be a definite plus.
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He chuckled at her response, grateful for the way she smoothly brushed past his awkward stammering. She complimented his name which was a first for him and he smiled at hers. "The small bird with a big voice. Does that suit you?" he asked curiously. He didn't know her well enough at all to decide whether it was fitting.


"I'm just going around places that hold memories for me. This was my last stop, the last fond memory. We're moving soon." he explained casually. It wasn't anything too exciting to him so he decided to see why she was up here. "What about you? What are you up to?"
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"That's me - definitely. Either don't talk at all or don't know, when to shut up. No middle ground there," Wraen joked, because it was the first time that anyone drew a likeness between her namesake the bird and her amazing-one-of-a-kind personality. 

"Moving - where to? Why?" she was surprised, because the forest seemed as a good place as any to stay for a very long time. After all the pack before Morningside had lived there for many years as well. "Is the place haunted?"
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He grinned and laughed again, finding her to be quite funny and just as pleasant to be around as she was last time. "I tend to ramble a lot, it's a bad habit" he said, knowing what it was like to talk too much.She asked where they were moving off to and he gave a flick of his ears.


"I'm not sure where exactly we'll be settling...." he tried to think of anything else he could but he found he didn't exactly know too much about the plans his father,Dawn, and Pema had made. He only knew that Aditya,Dawn, and Easy had gone out scouting. The next question confused him as he didn't know what being haunted would have to do with moving. Surely ghosts wouldn't be that scary?

"No, worse. There's been a lot of attacks, it's dangerous. Loners and other predators aren't respecting the borders at all, plus a lot of our pack became ill after the last attack, myself included. Nearly died." his voice took on a grave tone, remembering the scent of the loner Dauntless had fought, the evidence of the lynx on his dad and Dawns body, and then the two loners he had helped fight off.
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"Then it is a lucky occasion that you ran into me - I have no shame whatsoever and we can talk each other's ears off," Wraen replied, because, though long talks could get tedious, it was always better than, if a forced and awkward silence was the second choice.

"Wow... that is one row of unlucky events," she was shocked and felt sorry for the pack of all the bad luck they had had. "My pack is settling in the mountain range down south - any loners or other dangerous creatures we should be aware of?" because if there was a disease spreading or psychos running around, it was something her leadership had to know about.
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As the conversation went on, he found himself completely at ease with her. He really found her company one hundred percent enjoyable. It was kind of how he felt with Keoni though without the nervous belly flutters or the slight suspicion that she honestly couldn't wait to get away from him.


"Well...There's a lynx around. Just waltzed right in. There's a loner too, a male, he was caught by my little brother and fought off. Dauntless fought great" he said with pride. He really was proud of his little brother, even though the fact that he seemed more adept at being mercenary then Sunny caused a sligjt twinge of jealousy. Then again, Sunny was a fairly good hunter especially when it came to birds.


"The other two loners weren't really a threat. I have no idea what they were thinking, but after the previous mentioned attacks Morningside wasn't having it. Almost all of us were there attacking them." he wondered if that sounded a bit too harsh, but really even though half the pack was there not everyone was... really there. Aditya and Dawn made more snaps at each other than they had at the female. 


"What is your pack? I've never seen any others besides Easthollow and Morningside. Then again, I've also never travelled much." he asked with genuine curiosity, wanting to find out more about her rather than sit here and talk about himself all day.
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"Never a boring day at Morningside, eh?" was all Wraen had to offer on the matter and was suddenly very relieved that big part of her pack's territory was mountains and well-hidden safe-places. When it would come to trespassers or any danger, they would not be trapped. 

"Sunspire - it's led by Rannoch and his mate Liffey, and my brother Terance is hand of the King. We recently left Moonspear together, accumulated some other people along the way and claimed an area down South," she explained as best as she could. "We are generally friendly and peaceful, as long as others treat us with respect."

"Where do you plan to head from here? I heard that there are quite a few packs on the coast nowadays - not much space there," Wraen tried to imagine, where would she look for a suitable home for a group of wolves.
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He laughed freely, eyes glimmering with mirth "Keeps me on my paws for sure." he said nodding in agreement. He listened to her tell of her pack. She mentioned another pack that he also hadn't heard of, but he was sure there were plenty of packs he'd never heard of. 

She asked again where they were heading and he frowned slightly, shuffling his paws a bit. "I don't know honestly. I don't really get included in the big planning stuff. That's all Dawn and dad. Pema too" he said his tone insecure. He wasn't sure whether that should make him feel bad or not. Just because he was family didn't mean he was entitled to know everything right?

She had mentioned the coast, something he knew of from the Corten's event he'd went to with Dad,easy,lavender and Cat. It was by the ocean and had lots of sand. Really pretty though the air was salty and kinda hurt his nose. "Not sure if the coast was part of the plan, but I'll let dad know that there isn't much room." he said. He wasn't sure what else to say but he didn't really want to part ways. He hadn't had another person he could talk to so easily in so long.


"Wanna do something? We could try to hunt off territory or spar maybe?" he suggested hopefully. He hoped he didn't sound to desperate, his tail gave a slow sway behind him nonetheless.
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Sunny was a nice guy, but still in the acquaintance zone, therefore Wraen feared that after the important matters were covered, they would run out of topics to discuss. And awkward silences she disliked the most. 

Whether the gray Morningside wolf felt the same or not, she was glad that he had offered something to do and the options were equally tempting. "I will opt for hunting today - I myself am specializing in wingged buggers and the ones that are smaller than me. What about you?" she asked, because, if he shared her interests, maybe she would be able to learn something new.
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Sunny's ears shot up and he grinned widely "What a coincidence. I'm also specializing in bird hunting. I've seen pheasants around recently and geese have started coming back. There's a couple of scent trails around."he said going into hunting mode now.


He lifted his nose to the air and breathed it in, picking up the scents again. The musty, dirty feather scent was a pheasant and the one that had hints of algae and that weird fishy water stench came from geese. He'd let her decide which ones to go after.
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"A pheasant - that is the bird you caught last time?" Wraen asked, remembering the colorful, feathered animal that she had first intended to steal from Sunny and then entirely forgotten about it, until she had had to go home. By that time it was too late to commit a crime, when you had spent such a pleasant afternoon.

"Lead the way, hunter," since these were his hunting grounds, she thought it was only fair for him to take the lead of the general direction they would me going to.
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Sunny nodded his confirmation to her question, nose working out the different scent paths. He was secretly surprised she remembered the details and it pleased him, realising he wasn't simply abnormally sentimental by remembering their playful meeting.


He decided to head after the geese, never having hunted them but having seen them around the area before they took off for winter. "Let's see how hunting geese goes." he said and then motioned for her to follow him. The scent trailed around the edges of the lake and into the trees away from their territory. It seemed to be leading toward a patch of shrubbery and reeds and as they approached the faint sound of honks and other strange noises could be heard. He paused and decided this would be easy enough. "One of us can circle around the reeds and scare them out. The other can cut off the path to water and go for a kill. Both of us can grab one if possible, their necks are fairly long and should break easily." he spoke the plan in a hushed tone, turning to look at her. He left the roles open for her to select.
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Geese sounded fun and promised new experience for Wraen, who had never hunted these big birds before. The closest she had got to a big bird had been remnants of a dead swan, therefore she followed Sunny and did her own share of tracking and memorizing the scent paths and felt as excited as a scout on a mission in the woods. 

The "voices" of geese alerted her and she stopped to listen with one ear, while the other listened to her hunting partner's explanation. All sounded nice and well, except something was amiss and it took her a moment of furrowed brow and intense thinking to find the puzzle piece that did not match. 

"What if I scare them and they simply fly off? They are big birds with wings after all?" she finally asked, though - perhaps - these were a very special kind of geese. That were too fat and heavy to fly or they had useless wings.
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Sunny's ears flicked up and he opened his mouth to speak, hesitating for a moment though. She had a point. He wracked his brain of memories he'd seen of geese before they had left the river and then nodded. "From what I've seen they need some speed to actually take off. If they start running you should be able to catch up,just watch the wings flapping and don't let em near the water."he said almost certain he was correct. He'd seen some take off and they'd always run with their wings spread out for a few feet before taking flight. He looked to her to make sure she was alright with continuing, eyes bright and eager to take down a goose.
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"I will do the scaring part then," Wraen readily volunteered, because Sunny sounded like he was a better expert and goose hunting than she was. And there were less chances to mess up - because, how hard scaring a flock of geese could be?

She waited until her partner had arrived to the right place and then moved herself towards the reeds, where the birds in question were having an avid conversation and had no idea of, what was coming for them. 

What she had not taken in account was that up close geese were way bigger than the convenient size of mallards she was used to. Therefore rather than charging right at them, she hesitated, unsure, whether it was a very good idea to provoke a species that were one-third of your size, but ten times in numbers. 

"BOO-HOooo...?" she barked at them loudly, though her voice was still very unsure of the chosen course of action.
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Forgive me but I'm laughing at Wraen right now xD

He nodded his agreement and took his place, standing in a spot that blocked the water. He focused on the bushes and reeds, waiting for the sound of geese honking and the sight of flapping feathers. Instead he heard a very uncertain shout from Wraen.It worked-kind of. A few Geese gave dramatic honks of fright and flapped there way toward him and he leaped forward. The others flapped in a frenzy near Wraen, unsure whether to run or fight the poor girl.Sunny chased down one in his sights, the fat bird was waddling quickly away but building up speed like nobody's business. 


Sunny grunted and put on some speed before leaping and slamming his forepaws down inbetween the goose's wings. The goose gave an indignant squawk and flapped wildly but sunny lowered his jaws and grabbed it's skinny neck, snapping it with ease. Then he made his way toward Wraen seeing if she needed help. He came upon the bushes and shouted loudly, snarling as viciously as he could. The remaining attacking Geese scattered and he paused "If you're okay, help me get one more!" he said through panting breaths. Taking off after the foolish goose who had went away from the water, he tried to snap at one of it's wings and was smacked, yelping at the force.
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That was intended to be so. :D

Wraen's half-hearted attempt to scare the geese had a half-hearted success, because some of them waddled in Sunny's direction and some began flapping wings and honking loudly charged at the supposed villain. To say that she did not like the turn of events was like saying nothing - she got scared (and would later be embarrassed and never told anyone), backed away from the birds that kept coming closer, until she found herself trapped against an icy heap of snow and angry geese around.

Judging by the noise somewhere away - the Morningside wolf had been successful - and not only that, he found time to come to the rescue valiantly. The birds scattered, he went after another, yet this one was not in the mood of dying today - it hissed and hit the boy with one of it's wings. If it would have been up to Wraen, she would have been comfortable with having just one dead bird, but her sense of duty and the fact that she did not want to appear as a coward in Sunny's eyes, made her charge at the offending bird with more courage than she actually had.

She attacked the bird from a different angle and it waddled off and away from her companion. "You okay?" she asked the boy, looking worried.
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One if his eyes stung a bit and watered up, apparently having been smacked with some feathers pretty hard but it didn't hurt too badly so he blinked away the tears and kind half kept it open as he watched Wraen chase off the violent goose. The bird waddled off at high speeds, honking and probably shouting nasty things at them both on it's escape but Sunny didn't care. He'd taken one down and hed be satisfied with that.

Turning to Wraen he nodded and gave a lopsided grin, breath being sucked in shakily and held for a moment before he gave a long, loud laugh. "I'm so sorry...but that...that was amazing!"he guffawed in-between his words. He totally wasn't intentionally being an ass but her half hearted shout was repeating on loop in his mind and he couldn't hold back his laughs. After a moment he sobered up and gave a slow wag, seeming sheepish for his outburst "Are you alright? They can be mighty nasty apparently"he asked in a more calm tone.
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Wraen did not get that Sunny was laughing about and though that he simply had got a little hysterical after being hit in the face. Probably, when there had been a choice between crying and laughing, he had chosen the latter. She gave him a quick, examining look, concluded that, since there was no blood in sight, then she should not worry either and thus relieved, sat down and smiled at her companion.

"I am fine," now that the danger was past, her initial fear of the birds seemed a little stupid and she did not want to dwell on it. "So - care to tell, how you did it? Because I just heard the bird dying, did not see you do it," she beckoned to the bird that was lying on the ground, expecting a thorough description of the whole process.
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Sunny also sat down his tail laying around his haunches in a relaxed manner as he returned her smile. He didn't hurt anymore and when she also confirmed that she was okay he nodded. "Well...I had to really run for it because apparently they build up speed quicker than I'd thought. Then I leaped and slammed my forepaws down between it's wings and held it. Grabbed it's neck and snapped it really quickly. Their bones seem delicate and fragile."He explained what he'd done as best he could not sure how to really elaborate on what was to him a fairly easy kill.

He stood up and walked over to the dead bird and grabbed it, dragging it to her. He flipped it onto it's back and placed his paw down between it's wings. "If you press down right here and hold firm the bird goes down real quick,but watch for their wings because they'll still flap. Then grab it's neck and yank from side to sid really hard."He explained to her, hoping a demonstration would be better.
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Wraen listened and watched carefully, memorizing every detail of Sunny's instructions and storing away for later use. She was not yet sure, if she would dare to go anywhere near ducks, if she were alone. But - come to think of it - Terance or Rannoch, or even Liffey could be good pals to try this type of hunting out. Especially, when things would go for the worse. 

"Thanks," she was grateful for the demonstration. "Shall we eat?"